Karl Beurlen (17 April 1901 – 27 December 1985) was a German paleontologist.[1]
Beurlen was born in Aalen. He attended University of Tübingen. He completed a PhD in 1923.[2]
Beurlen was a proponent of orthogenesis and saltational evolution.[3] He used the term metakinesis (coined by Otto Jaekel) to describe sudden changes of development in organisms. He also invented the term palingenesis as a mechanism for his orthogenetic theory of evolution.[2]
He was an assistant of Edwin Hennig.[4]
He was a proponent of National Socialist ideology and wrote about the Aryan race.[1]
He was director of the Zoologische Staatssammlung München.